Plans for New Marks & Spencer Food Hall at Frontier Park Revived

The proposal for a new £10.1 million food hall at a Lancashire retail park, which belongs to the Issa brothers, has been reactivated. A High Court issue in September necessitated a complete restart of the planning procedure for the new Marks & Spencer establishment, intended to supersede its current store in central Blackburn. Monte Blackburn, the real estate division of Mohsin and Zuber Issa’s business conglomerate and owner of the Frontier Park retail hub, has now recommenced this process. Previously, in April, the planning committee of the adjacent Hyndburn Council had approved the development, situated two miles east of Blackburn, close to junction 6 of the M65. Hyndburn Council’s approval came despite a final effort by Blackburn with Darwen Council to propose an alternative site to M&S. This alternative was the cleared Thwaites Brewery site, which had initially been designated for a new Morrisons store until the supermarket chain withdrew in March. Subsequently, Tesco, another supermarket chain, requested a judicial review, a challenge that Hyndburn Council opted not to dispute. Consequently, Hyndburn Council’s initial decision to grant planning permission was invalidated. M&S, having previously stated its commitment to relocating to Frontier Park, has now provided new supporting documentation for a renewed application. M&S confirmed it would not extend the lease for its current King William Street store, which employs 75 individuals, upon its expiration in 2027. In a statement, the company declared its Blackburn store was “from another era, opening in 1934, and is no longer representative of how people want to shop today”. A Monte Blackburn representative stated that the company had “comprehensively addressed” previously raised concerns, further noting that the proposed food hall represented a “valuable opportunity to regenerate an under-utilised site within Frontier Park”. The spokesperson also added: “The development will generate significant employment opportunities, both directly and indirectly.” If constructed, the food hall would mark M&S’s return to Hyndburn, a first since its Accrington town centre store ceased operations in 2016. Blackburn with Darwen Council Leader Phil Riley, who had previously stated the authority “made no secret of the fact we’d love to keep M&S here in Blackburn town centre,” chose not to comment on the most recent Frontier Park proposals.